A high court, sitting in Akure, Ondo State, has sentenced the Founder of Sotitobire Praising Chapel, Prophet Babatunde Alfa, and five others, to life imprisonment over the disappearance of a one-year-old boy, Gold kolawole, from the church about 11 months ago.
The defendants were found guilty of a two-count charge of kidnapping, aiding and abetting.
Justice Olusegun Odusola also accused the police of complicity in the case.
Prophet Alfa and the five other defendants had been on trial for months, following the mysterious disappearance of Kolawole from the prophet’s church during Service on Sunday, November 10, 2019.
The church is located at Oshinle Quarters, Akure.
The parents of the missing child had accused Alfa, the founder of the Church of masterminding the disappearance of their son.
The case also generated reactions across Nigeria, with many people calling for a thorough investigation into the case.
The whereabouts of the boy have remained unknown till date.
The church workers convicted along with the prophet were Omodara Olayinka, Margaret Oyebola, Grace Ogunjobi, Egunjobi Motunrayo and Esther Kayode.
They were all sentenced to seven years imprisonment on count one, bordering on conspiracy to commit felony to wit, aiding and abetting kidnapping, while they got life imprisonment on count two, which bordered on aiding and abetting kidnapping contrary to and punishable under Section 5 of the Ondo State Anti-kidnapping and Anti-Abduction law 2010.
The court, however, discharged and acquitted the 7th defendant for lack of strong proof against him.
Justice Odusola held that the accused were convicted based on the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution.
